Knight of Robotnik
by Shining Pheonix
Summary: Project Shadow wasn't the only covert operation Dr. Gerald was running. It wasn't even the only project he was using Shadow for! A machine unlike any other has been revealed, that may finally solve the mystery of Maria and Shadow!
1. The Knight and the Fox

"_I had several options when it came to controlling Subject Shadow. The first was a simple control chip, implanted in the brain, however, I felt that this would unduly limit both the Subject's ability and mental status. Therefore, I will instill in the Subject an extreme sense of honor and loyalty. By doing so, I hope to not make the Subject simply a slave to my demands, but a son of the family, by any other name a Knight of the family Robotnik." - _Gerald A. Robotnik, private entry on the Shadow Project

**Knight of Robotnik**

_Chapter 1: Babysitting Blues_

Sonic T. Hedgehog was many things: fast, smart mouthed, egotistical, married to the queen of a parallel dimension. But the thing he was not, was a person capable of finding a good babysitter.

"Why couldn't you just leave him by himself?"

"Last time, I was only gone on a two-day trip. I came home to Espio at my front door with three different misdemeanor tickets, four receipts from the fire department, and twenty different neighbor complaints. The only reason I didn't wind up in court that day is because he still owed me one."

"Right, okay, leaving him at home himself is out. How about Cream's folks?"

"Would, but their going out of town too."

"Alright, how about Amy?"

"HA-HA-HA! Not a chance."

"Is she still on the whole 'seppeku' thing?"

"Yes."

"Okay, she's out. Don't the Chaotix still owe you a few?"

"I burnt my last favor on that last trip."

"Ouch. Alright, Knuckles?"

"Right, give a lunatic ten year old genius to the most gullible being in the universe."

"True. What about Rouge?"

"She's seven months in and still whipping Knux. Last place I would send him."

"Too true. Alright, Omega?"

"How many ways can you spell 'Spare Parts'?"

"Right. Well, who's left? Shade's still helping out GUN, so we can't ask her, and a post-apocalyptic wasteland isn't exactly prime babysitting territory, so Silver's out. Is there anyone else?"

"Well, Shadow still owes me."

"Shadow? Are you sure?"

"I'll talk to him. He's one of those guys you just have to ask."

When Shadow woke, he immediately felt a great disturbance in the universe. Had he woken up in the ARK again? No, the room was the one in his apartment that he was renting from Rouge. Had Rouge's child come early? No, he was sure that either Sonic or Rouge would have called him if that were the case. Had Eggman started another of his 'take over the world' campaigns? A look outside the window revealed that the skyline over Megatropolis was undisturbed. Had GUN staked out his apartment again? No, the selfsame look outside revealed no 'covert' black van, and no agents were within sight. That only left one real viable option, and he prayed he wasn't right.

There was a knock at his door. Shadow immediately went for his revolver.

"Yo, Shadow, are you in?"

Shadow's grip upon his revolver increased. Knowing that he couldn't ignore the door forever, he opened it a fraction. "What do you want, Faker?"

On any other day, Sonic would have had a snarky comeback ready and waiting for that quip, but today, he wasn't in the mood. "Sorry to drop in, Shadow, but I need to call in a solid 'You owe me'."

Shadow regretted not shooting the blue hedgehog through the door. "What is it?"

Sonic sighed. "Well, all I need is someone to watch Tails for me. Blaze and I are going out of town and the locale isn't exactly rated 'PG', if you follow."

Shadow gave Sonic an odd look. "Couldn't you just leave him by himself? Or get someone else to do it?"

Sonic sighed again. "Look, if I could, I would, and you know that. There isn't anyone else I could trust and is available to watch him."

Shadow twitched. He knew Sonic wouldn't come to him for this unless it was an absolute last resort. "Alright, I'll do it. My babysitting fee is your soul, and I want half up front."

"Five hundred it is then." Sonic replied, unfazed.

"When are you and the Queen leaving?"

"Tomorrow afternoon. I'll bring him by in the morning."

Shadow sighed again. Now he _really_ wished he had shot Sonic through the door.

The next morning, Sonic arrived with Tails as promised.

"Hi Uncle Shadow! Are you still using that old revolver I built you? It's outdated, here I brought you a better one. Hey, what does this do? Can we go see Auntie Rouge and Omega later? Can I use this?"

Ah, yes. _Now_ Shadow remembered why Sonic had so much trouble finding a reliable sitter. The ten year old fox always talked at a hundred miles a minute, stuck his nose into anything that could possibly be considered mechanical, and bounced around the room like he was on too much caffeine. Speaking of which…

"Miles." Shadow intoned.

"Yeah, Uncle Shadow."

"Exactly how many cups of coffee have you had this morning?"

Tails paused. "Only a cup of decaf, is that not enough?"

Shadow did not respond, but calmly walked over to his kitchenette, grabbed his coffee maker, and silently hurled it out of his window. He didn't bother to open the window first. Only after doing this did Shadow speak.

"No more coffee for you. Ever."

"What do you mean, Uncle Shadow?" Tails asked, thoroughly confused.

"Never mind."

Tails simply looked at Shadow for a moment, then looked at the broken window, then back at Shadow.

"Can we go see Auntie Rouge?"

Shadow sighed again.

An hour later, hedgehog and fox walked into Club Rouge, Rouge T. Bat's bar/nightclub/restaurant.

At the bar, Omega was acting as bartender, short-order cook, and cashier. "GREETINGS, COMERADE SHADOW. GREETINGS, ALLY PROWER. WHAT CAN I GET FOR YOU TODAY?"

Shadow walked up to his robotic friend. "Omega, give me a shot of the strongest stuff you've got."

Omega nodded. "TWO VICADIN AND ORANGE JUICE, COMING UP."

Rouge, hearing the noise, appeared from her office in the back of the club. "Well, well, if it isn't tall, dark, and handsome. What brings you in?"

Tails, seeing the bat he had been seeking, bounded over.

"Hi Aunty Rouge! You look bigger than the last time I saw you! Is the baby coming soon? Can I reprogram Omega? Can I try this drink, it looks good?"

Rouge, to her credit, didn't miss a beat. "Yes, I am a little bigger, no the baby isn't due for another two months, leave Omega's brains alone, and you're not old enough."

Shadow and Omega both stared at the bat woman, wide eyed.

"Wow, even Sonic can't keep up with that kid's mouth half the time."

Rouge just chuckled as she guided Tails back to the bar. "Sometimes, it's just a matter of anticipation. I'm guessing that the lovebirds skipped town and left you kit-watching?"

Shadow nodded his head as he took the glass of O.J. from the bartending robot.

"Yes. I'll also need to get a new window, by the way."

"ASUMPTION: COFEE-MAKER MALFUNCTION?"

Shadow simply nodded again. As the black hedgehog took a sip of his beverage, Tails spoke up again.

"Where's Knuckles? Isn't he usually here?"

Omega answered as he handed the two-tailed fox a glass of milk. "COMRAD KNUCKLES IS CURRENTLY IN ROME MEETING WITH THE POPE OVER SOME RELIGIOUSE MATTERS. HE WILL NOT RETURN FOR ANOTHER TWENTY-SEVEN HOURS."

Shadow looked up, slightly surprised. "Talking with the Pope? Now what, is his vicarship in question?"

Rouge chuckled again. "No, but the 'Church of the Master Emerald' is. Or was, anyway. Regardless, that's what Knux went to clear up. Like Omega said, he'll be back sometime the day after tomorrow."

"COMRAD SHADOW, WAS NOT TODAY THE DAY YOU INTEDED TO VISIT THE ARK AND CONTINUE YOUR INVESTIGATION INTO DR. GERALD'S ARCHIVE?" Omega asked, rubbing down the counter with a polishing attachment.

Shadow perked up a little at that. "You're right, it was. But what about…"

Tails cut the black hedgehog off. "You're going up to the ARK? Can I come? Please? I promise I'll be good!"

Shadow paused to think it over for a moment. _There's not exactly anywhere that he could run off to up there, and he knows more about machinery than just about anyone else on the planet, that would be invaluable in trying to decipher some of the Doctor's notes._

His decision made, Shadow faced the small fox. "Alright, you can come."

**A.N.- Well, for all of you wanting a continuation of '****Why Sonic Can't Marry Amy****', here it is. This fic takes place roughly a year after 'WSCMA', and the gang has obviously not sat still in the intervening time. Just so everyone is up to speed, here is some highlights of what happened in that time:**

**-Sonic and Blaze got married (Headed to the honeymoon at the start of this chapter)**

**-Rouge and Knuckles got married (Technically a shotgun wedding with a much bigger gun wielded by a bartender and an off duty federal agent)**

**-Amy became clinically depressed due to Sonic's marriage. She recovered thanks to medical help, but is still sensitive to the issue.**

**-Shadow discovered an archive of Dr. Gerald Robotnik's work aboard the ARK station, but has yet to crack into it.**

**Unlike many of my other fics, I can't really say where this one came from, but it's been eating at the back of my brain for a little while now. As always, constructive criticism is welcome and flames will be noted and added to my nest of ashes. Once again, this is Shining Pheonix, bidding you good night.**


	2. Knight on the Ark

Chapter Two: Knight on the Ark

Shadow was instantly grateful that he had brought Tails with him. In a matter of two minutes, the young fox had cut through nearly twenty layers of firewalls, a task that would have taken Shadow the whole day to do. After leaving the fox to rip through the Ark's hard drives and download the information to his computer in his apartment, Shadow had taken to doing damage assessment on the rest of the space colony.

Walking down the halls, Shadow also walked down memory lane, thinking of the time when the station had been a hive of life and activity. Unlike what GUN would tell you, Ark had not been built with only one project in mind, but it had been built as a massive laboratory, useful for experiment after experiment, with hot labs on the exterior hulls that could be vented to vacuum safely without affecting the rest of the station. Project Shadow had only been the biggest project on the Ark, but it wasn't the only one, just as Professor Gerald hadn't been the only scientist on board, he was only the chief scientist and administrator.

As Shadow reached the end of the hall, a loud crackling rang out through the corridor. Just as Shadow was preparing to race back to the command room where he had left Tails, the crackling stopped. "Uncle Shadow, can you hear me?"

"Miles? What's going on?" Shadow exclaimed, looking all around for the fox.

"I fixed the P.A. system, so now you and I can talk no matter where you are on the Ark!" the fox exclaimed into the microphone.

Shadow rubbed one of his ears. "That's good, but please don't shout into the mic, you're going to blow out my ears."

"Sorry." Tails replied over the p.a. "So, where are you going?"

Shadow returned his gaze to the door at the end of the hall. "To check on the power systems, I'd like to be sure that we're not going to suddenly lose power and fall out of orbit."

"Hold on, I'll try to check them from here." Tails replied. After a moment, Tails' voice returned over the p.a. "I can get a reading from the primary power plant, but the screen for the secondary plant is cracked and I can't pull it up on any of the others, so you'll have to check it yourself."

"That's fine." Shadow replied, opening the door to the elevator. "I'll likely pass through some dead zones in the p.a., and there isn't any in the in the secondary plant room, so don't be surprised if I don't answer for a while."

"Okay."

As Shadow descended in the elevator, he allowed himself to dwell on a memory, one of the few he had of before Maria's death…

Maria Robotnik paced the hall of Space Colony Ark, waiting. Her grandfather, the professor, had told her that he wouldn't need her best friend and bodyguard long, but the waiting was killing her. Meanwhile, several decks below, Professor Gerald and Shadow were standing in front of a door.

"If you don't mind, Professor, where are we?" the black and red hedgehog asked of the elderly scientist.

Gerald smirked. "In this room, my son, is your inheritance."

"My inheritance?" Shadow asked, thoroughly confused.

Professor Gerald punched in a code in the door. "After today, Shadow, the only one you may ever take down here is Maria. No one else, not even I, am allowed down here for any reason."

Shadow followed the Professor through the door. "I don't understand, this is your station, why should I not be allowed to bring you down here?"

The pair walked down a short, non-descript corridor before arriving at an airlock. Stopping at the door, Gerald turned to face Shadow.

"This is part of the original station, built by my grandfather, Julian Robotnik. You know the name, I don't have to tell you the kind of man he was or what he did. What's behind this door, is something he stole from the world he tried to conquer. When I created you, I used some DNA from a family on that world, and that family was the guardians of what's behind this door. That is what I meant by your inheritance."

Shadow took a step back as he absorbed this latest statement. "So, you're saying that my… genetic ancestors… used to guard whatever it is behind that door, like a religion?"

"Before I answer that, allow me to show you what we are speaking about."

Gerald turned a handle and opened the airlock. On the other side was a large room, with a Stonehenge-esquse structure in the middle. The structure had seven pillars, each one topped with a gem, each one bigger than a basketball, and each one a different color, green, red, blue, light blue, grey, yellow, and purple.

"Professor, what are these?" Shadow asked, wide-eyed.

"They are called the Hyper Emeralds, and they act as the secondary power core for this station. They contain unlimited power." The professor answered. "More power than anything we have ever seen. That is why your genetic ancestors guarded them, and why you shall again. You could consider them the crown jewels of the Robotnik family."

Shadow shook his head. That memory had been buried rather deep, and he needed to focus. The elevator had stopped at the appropriate level, and, as he had feared, he could see several spots on the hull nearing failure.

"Miles, if you can still hear me, take a note that corridor 22-B needs work."

"Got it, Uncle Shadow!" Tails replied over the P.A.

Walking down the hall had been somewhat nerve-wracking, Shadow had to take to the ceiling and walls several times to avoid damaged areas in the floor, and several of the gravity plates were damaged, which would randomly throw him around the corridor or plant him on his knees from over power. Finally, Shadow reached the door to the Emerald Room.

Opening the door, Shadow prepared himself for the worst, that the room beyond had been compromised and nothing but vacuum waited him on the other side. He was relieved, however, when the inner door opened and reveled the room intact. All seven gems sat in their places, and the temple-like structure that they rested upon had suffered only minor cosmetic damage. Shadow breathed a sigh of relief that he hadn't realized he had been holding. As he walked in to do a closer inspection, Shadow took his time to look around. The 'temple' strongly resembled the Master Emerald's temple on Angel Island, leading Shadow to believe that the two were in some way related. The seven gems rested atop seven pillars positioned in a circular design around a central altar area, that had seven wide steps leading up to it. Inside the altar area was a raised circular dais, with carvings all along the sides. Wherever Julian Robotnik had taken it from, Shadow was sure that it had been a beautiful spot.

Finding all in order, Shadow's trip back to the Control Room was uneventful. Inside, he found Tails hard at work at the keyboard.

"What's wrong, Miles?"

Tails jumped in surprise.

"Uncle Shadow! I didn't hear you come in!"

Shadow tapped his foot with minor impatience.

"That's fine, but what were you so engrossed in that you lost attention to your surroundings?"

Tails turned back to the keyboard.

"I found this odd partition in Dr. Gerald's personal files. At first, I thought it was some research notes, but when I tried looking them up in the main memory, half of the project names he mentions weren't there."

Shadow pondered that for a moment. _Projects that were never placed in the main data archive? Personal side projects, maybe? Or where they experiments that he thought too dangerous to be out in the open?_

Looking back at the fox from his musings, Shadow spoke again.

"Did you transfer the partition to my terminal at home?"

Tails nodded. "Yup! I even got most of the data from the main data cache' too! I tried getting everything, but I can't get to some of the science sector or the data in the residential area from here."

Shadow nodded in approval at the fox's work. "Alright, we've spent enough time up here for today. Let's go home, rest, and get ready for tomorrow."

After getting an approving nod from the fox, Shadow placed one hand on Tails' shoulder, one on the Chaos Emerald in his pocket, and they both disappeared in the white light of Chaos Control.

After arriving at his apartment, and spending a half hour putting his houseguest to bed, Shadow sat down at his desk and started thumbing through several of the files retrieved from Ark. Ignoring the daily security reports and ship manifests, Shadow finally came to the hidden partition data that Tails had mentioned.

The folder was full of what appeared to be both diary and project entries, and one of the last modified was a file called 'LAZARUS'. Opening the file, Shadow was greeted by three more files: a blueprint of some form of capsule, a text file titled 'Outline', and a diary entry. Shadow decided that the project outline and schematics would probably be over his head in detail and scientific jargon, so he opened the diary entry first.

_Date: XXXX (Erased)_

_Author: Prof. G. Robotnik, project lead_

_File:_

_This is the single most ambitious project I have ever undertaken, and by far the most complex. The successful use of the proof-of-concept mockup used in Project: Shadow has given me enough data to greenlight the full project. Still, I am plagued by questions, the most burning being if I _should _allow the project to continue. The ability to restore a body to perfect condition, to restart all biological functions even in a deceased subject, the possibilities alone are staggering._

_No, I can't let my resolve waver now, t0o m1c4…_

_(File Corrupt, Unexpected End of Line)_

Shadow had to take a moment to digest that. '_So that's how he did it, he used this Project: Lazarus and some of the data he got from Black Doom to create my project. But why wouldn't he continue the project if it had been so successful? The ability to recover from any wound would have saved millions of lives. Was he afraid of possible misuse?'_

Lacking answers, and the ability to unscramble the rest of the damaged file, Shadow was finally forced to call it a night.

**A/N: The plot finally begins. What happens from here, is for me to know and you faithful readers to eventually read. (Yeah, bad pun, I know). Anyway, as always reviews and constructive criticism are always welcome, and flames will only help me lower my heating bill for this nest of ashes. Your ever-burning (and still living!) author,**

**S.P.**


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